Nepalese people warm themselves by a fire during a cold winter morning in Kathmandu yesterday. Nepal’s Meteorological Forecasting Division said capital Kathmandu experienced its coldest morning in three years with the temperature dropping to 0.7 degree Celsius (33 degrees Fahrenheit).
IANS/Kathmandu
The temperature should gradually rise from December 30 upwards based on the Nepali lunar calendar. But this year, Nepal witnessed the opposite as temperature in the country gradually declined.
Temperatures recorded since last week have been the lowest to hit Kathmandu in five years, Nepal meteorological forecasting division said yesterday.
“The temperature was recorded 0.7 degree Celsius on Monday, the lowest to hit Kathmandu in the last five years,” a Met official said.
The increasing cold spell has crippled life across the country, resulting in several deaths. Extreme cold has already claimed more than a dozen lives in Tarai, the country’s southern plain, Xinhua reported.
The weather in Nepal has been cold enough to ground hundreds of domestic as well as international flights.
Moreover, the absence of winter rains has also affected agriculture, causing negative impact on nation’s GDP.
The freezing temperature has also forced villagers to migrate. Manu villagers of Mugu district have already migrated to warmer settlements.
“Cold breeze in the morning and evening and chilly weather throughout the day has frozen the water pipes. It is even difficult to wash up hands and face,” a villager of the district was quoted by state run television.
The Met official said that in 2008, Kathmandu suffered the lowest temperature of 0.2 Celsius. “Since then the mercury had never plunged below 0,” he added.
According to the official, although it is situated in the plains, is colder than the hills although the temperature is above zero.
“The people in Tarai never get to see the sun for weeks, which results in a more chilling weather compared to mountainous region, which gets to see sun during day,” he said.
Actually, some parts of Nepal’s Tarai plains never get to see sun for months.
“It has been 26 days since we felt the warmth of the sun,” Bibek Khanal of Bhairahawa, a Tarai city, said. “We are always shrouded by fog.”
Moreover, the winter monsoon in Nepal has also been delayed this year. After the winter monsoon, the temperature gradually rises, the Met office said.